Emmerdale: Plans for tours of TV soap’s Leeds set

Emmerdale fans could soon have the chance of touring the set of their favourite TV show for the first time.

Plans have been lodged with Leeds City Council to allow visitor tours around the set of Stub House Farm, on the landed estate that forms a part of historic Harewood House.

The tours would be ancillary to filming, so would operate outside of filming hours at weekends, and potentially during Christmas, summer, and bank holidays.

An ITV spokesperson said: “We are working with the Harewood Estate to seek permission to open the Emmerdale set for touring at weekends. This would provide a unique and limited availability opportunity for fans of the show to view the iconic production location.”

A Harewood spokeswoman said visitors often thought they would be able to see the set of the 42-year-old soap during a trip to the stately home.

She said: “We get people all the time pulling up and saying where is it? People think they’re going to find it in the woods.”

Under the existing planning agreement, general visitors to the set are not allowed.

According to the application, tours would run from 10am to 5pm from April to September and 10am to 2pm from October to March. Each tour would have a maximum of 30 visitors, plus guide, who would be collected by minibus from Harewood House car park.

Groups would enter the film production set at Burden Head Farm before visiting the Emmerdale Village set.

The maximum level of tours would be every 10 minutes, each lasting about two hours.

Christopher Usher, resident agent for Harewood Estate, said: “Harewood Estate has enjoyed a long working relationship with ITV and Emmerdale. The tours would create a new strand to that partnership in 2015.”

Existing planning permission permits film production at Stub House Farm until 2027.